Is it appropriate for a white person to say "Happy Juneteenth?"

In today’s climate of heightened sensitivity around race, history, and cultural appropriation, it’s understandable that some might feel hesitant about acknowledging Juneteenth, especially if they are not African American. A simple and cautious answer to whether it is appropriate for a white person to say “Happy Juneteenth” is: I would recommend not. Even with the best intentions, such a gesture can be seen as disrespectful or inappropriate by many within the Black community. The complexities of history and emotion tied to Juneteenth require a level of understanding and empathy that isn’t always assumed in casual greetings.

Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States, commemorating June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally received word of their freedom—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. For many African Americans, this day holds deep emotional and cultural significance, much like Independence Day does for the nation at large. However, the celebration has often been marginalized or suppressed, especially in Southern states where the legacy of slavery and segregation still casts a long shadow.

In the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, Juneteenth saw a resurgence in some areas. Yet, just as quickly, it was often suppressed again—left out of textbooks, downplayed in museums, and largely ignored in school curriculums. This suppression is not a thing of the past. In some regions, those responsible for shaping and sharing American history are once again working to diminish the visibility and importance of Juneteenth. This erasure adds to the sensitivity and protectiveness many African Americans feel around the holiday today.

That said, it's important to acknowledge that not every Black person in America was a slave, and not every white person owned slaves. History is never that simple. There were white abolitionists, Quakers, and countless other individuals—many of whom risked their lives or livelihoods—who fought to end slavery. These people, alongside both free and enslaved Black Americans, contributed to the progress that Juneteenth commemorates. Their efforts and sacrifices are part of the fabric of this history, too.

From this perspective, it becomes clear that Juneteenth isn’t only a “Black holiday” in the exclusive sense. It’s an American holiday. It symbolizes a turning point in our collective history—one that represents freedom, justice, and the slow, painful journey toward equality. White Americans, especially those who understand and respect this history, do have a reason to acknowledge and even celebrate Juneteenth. But how they do so makes all the difference.

Rather than simply saying “Happy Juneteenth,” which can feel tone-deaf or superficial, white individuals might instead approach the day as a moment of reflection, education, and solidarity. Attending Juneteenth events as a respectful guest, reading about the history of emancipation, supporting Black-owned businesses, or simply having conversations about what the day means—these are meaningful ways to participate. These actions show a willingness to honor the spirit of the holiday without centering oneself in it.

Ultimately, while it may not always be received well to casually say “Happy Juneteenth,” that doesn’t mean white people should ignore the day. Instead, they should recognize it for what it truly is: a day that marks progress in the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality in this country. Understanding the history and approaching the holiday with humility and respect can open the door to a more unified and thoughtful commemoration—for everyone.

Celebrating Juneteenth at Home

 Celebrating Juneteenth at home

In these Covid-19 crazy days depending on what area of the U.S. you're in gathering in large groups may still be on a shelter in place basis. Juneteenth is celebrated in black communities throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. Juneteenth had been celebrated on a regular basis until the coronavirus happened. This past year most outdoor large-scale gatherings for the Juneteenth holiday were canceled, and several went virtual.

The drive continues to make the Juneteenth celebration a national holiday, but this year I am encouraging a stay-at-home Juneteenth celebration if a large gathering Juneteenth celebration is forbidden in your area. A Juneteenth celebration for family and friends with red-velvet cake, and strawberry soda, or whatever red food you choose. For those of you familiar with the Juneteenth celebration you know that red food and drink are very popular on Juneteenth.

Enjoying this day of freedom, the June 19th, 1865 day of independence for the slaves turned free people, and after the passage of the 14th Amendment, a citizen of this nation with equal protection under the law. We celebrate Juneteenth for all of the ancestors who lived and died, praying for a day of freedom they would never see. It's too bad racism didn't end when slavery did, and while the racism itself might not have come as a surprise to our ancestors the fact that racism is growing in this day and age rather than subsiding might surely have held some surprise.

But as the ancestors' dealt with slavery and racism, today their descendants the African American people of today are left only to contend with racism. Like the Africans, African Americans, and the abolitionist worked together to bring slavery to an end, that work, and us African American, abolitionist, and politicians now needed to gather those same energies to combat racism. So to me, Juneteenth is both a poignant reminder of the past and a way to remind us all, on each June 19th, that because of racism there is still much work that needs to be done organizing and creating opportunities for all those that racism is hurting.

If you've ever attended a Juneteenth celebration then I don't need to tell you that a Juneteenth celebration at home can not be compared to the food, drink, community, and excitement an outdoor festival style Juneteenth celebration can offer. But it can offer family and friends tired of sheltering in place a way to gather and a chance to honor all the ancestors before us and with good food and drink, family and friends make June 19th, 1865 a day worth remembering and celebrating.

Juneteenth Cancellation

Juneteenth Day Celebration cancellations are starting to add up to quite possibly equal no Juneteenth Celebrations this summer, nationwide, due to Covid-19 concerns. To help prevent the spread of the coronavirus most state governors are asking Juneteenth organizers and others not to hold events for large gatherings of people. The African American community is being hit disproportionately hard by this virus with no vaccine. As a result of all the above, I have been watching Juneteenth celebration plans all over the country dissolve into cancelation after cancelation for summer 2020.  

In fact, as I write this post, the African American Family Reunion Committee in Vallejo-California and the NAACP's Jamestown Branch has just added their names to the list of organizations canceling their Juneteenth Day Celebration for this year. Whether a vaccine is created for the coronavirus or the new normal with regard to public gatherings stays in place I am hoping that the Juneteenth celebration will make its appearance in 2021 and continue on from there. For those of you who follow me on my Juneteenth website and FB location you know I celebrate Juneteenth all year round when it comes to sharing Juneteenth information.

June 19, 1865, and the celebration that grew into the oldest African American celebration in the U.S. "Juneteenth" should always be remembered even if it can't be celebrated in groups of more than ten. Juneteenth is all about family because after that date (in 1865) African American families separated by slavery at least had the chance to keep their immediate family together, and though it would not always be possible or in some cases desirable, begin putting their separated families back together.

Because back in the years' BC (Before Cable television) when there were no cellphones, tablets, televisions, or radios family time was often used for sharing meals and sharing stories. It didn't matter whether or not you could read when it came to the old African tradition of storytelling. The story of Juneteenth deserves to be passed down and passed on with or without becoming an official holiday.

Information is so readily available nowadays that I sometimes see my kids on their cellphone fact-checking someone in the middle of a conversation. Trying to imagine what it would be like without all of today's technology can be both sobering and kind of scary. But what if, for some reason, all of the technology we depend on today blinked out? No desktop, no laptop, no tablet, or cellphone service.

Information about the Emancipation Proclamation, and the end of slavery, should be passed from one generation to the next in honor of all those (black and white) who resisted slavery and fought to end slavery but didn't live long enough to see that dream, the abolishment of slavery, come true. From a member of the African American Juneteenth Celebrating communities, (me) I hope that the entertainment and activity associated with the oldest African American Celebration (Juneteenth) in this country will be back next year so that organizations like the African Family Reunion Committee, in Solano California the NAACP Jamestown Branch and all the other Juneteenth Celebration organizations taking a knee for the community in 2020 will be back in force next June.

I plan to still share Juneteenth related information on my Juneteenth website, and Facebook locations. A shout out to those in Rochester N.Y. area and the organizers of the virtual Juneteenth 5K Run and Walk, registration is still open through June 19, 2020. For those who register for a $10.00 donation you will receive a poster honoring Harriet Tubman, "Keep Going" by local artist Amber Stokes, and your donation will support the construction of the Rochester Civil Rights Heritage Park site at Baden Park.

June 19, 2020, public celebration or not, if you would like to join me in a quiet celebration dedicated to the memory of slavery and Emancipation my thoughts will be with yours on that date. Juneteenth around the nation, and in some cases the world, I was once contacted by a Juneteenth organization from Germany. Anyway, in places Juneteenth is celebrated with a day, a week, even an entire month, and even though it's still not easy for many Americans to accept the truth about the past or to understand the dignity that the Juneteenth celebration brings to the African Americans community, the celebration of this rich history still grows a little bigger each year.

Celebrate Juneteenth Every Month

I like the way, Pastor Gwendolyn Thrower from Ocilla, Georgia, thinks when it comes to the Juneteenth Celebration. Her belief is based on the premise until you know and understand where you've been as a race it will be very hard to determine where you're going. She believes that a lot of millennials are not educated on the real meaning behind the oldest African American celebration in the U.S.

It has been my experience to chant with millennials, the ones I raised, and others about Juneteenth and I was surprised to see that they had problems with the facts about even more recent history such as the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther Kings name came up a lot but when it came to an understanding of all the lives lost during the civil rights movement in this country many had no ideas of what it has cost in lives to be able to walk into a voting booth and cast a ballot. And for the African American young, and old, registered to vote, seldom is the African American voter turnout 100%, but that's another post.

Pastor Thrower said that the people who started the Juneteenth Celebration used to go from community to community with the Juneteenth Celebration. Even though the celebration started in June (June 19) because it was a traveling celebration there would be a Juneteenth celebration in June, July, August, September or whenever after the initial start in June.

And to be honest, if I had lived back then I would not have been opposed to traveling, preferably up north, and celebrating Juneteenth in every town along the way, but nowadays most communities are lucky to be able to have a single Juneteenth celebration, once a year. How do you feel about the idea to celebrate Juneteenth every month? I would much rather see an approved educational curriculum that made Juneteenth a solid part of a history textbook used in school classrooms so that everyone will understand and hopefully appreciate what the meaning of the end of slavery and the beginning of the oldest African American celebration in the U.S. meant to our American African ancestors.

So I appreciate Pastor Thrower for speaking out loud about our ancestors who did celebrate Juneteenth once a month. That might be one way to make sure the history and significance of Juneteenth are realized by this entire nation. I think that Pastor Thrower is well-deserving of the Humanitarian Award she was given for helping her community there in Ocilla, Georgia and for her organizing the local Juneteenth celebration there too. I have participated in organizing a Juneteenth even a time or two over the years, but I have to be honest, currently, I can not see having a Juneteenth celebration every month, not with all the organization that is required to get the city, and the local community all on the same page come Juneteenth day.

Luckily for me, most of my Juneteenth organization tasks were from when I worked at Stanford University, not quite a city but for sure a big community. The point is millennials and everyone else still not aware of the significance of what the Juneteenth Day Celebration means to African Americans and the descendants of the abolitionist that helped bring about the end of slavery in this country needs to be learned and passed down to the generations that come after us.  One of the reasons we understand what freedom with regard to this nation is, and still celebrate the 4th of July, is because of that battle for independence cut deep into the fabric of America. Just like southerners caught in the north when the Civil War broke out there was Loyalist who felt they were stuck on the wrong side of the War of Independence and the fight to be free of British rule.

The slaves in this country fought not only in America's war for independence, but they fought just as hard in the Civil War to be free, and the day they received that freedom, Juneteenth, was just as important to our slave ancestors as the 4th of July, only much more personal.   So I say if we don't celebrate Juneteenth once a month I'm grateful for the annual Juneteenth celebrations that continue to educate and entertain us all.

Juneteenth Awareness Walk

Other names I have heard used for Juneteenth were Juneteenth Freedom Day or Juneteenth Independence Day. Juneteenth is recognized by many Americans of African descendants as America's second independence day since most of their African ancestors were not free after America celebrated its independence from Great Britain. It would be another 89 years after 1776 before African, and African Americans, still living in slavery, would be able would truly celebrate their independence in America.

Not long after I first learned about the Juneteenth Day Celebration I learned that there was also an ongoing movement in this country to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Over the years since then, I have watched more and more states make Juneteenth an official state holiday. Now that 46 states in this country recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, a woman from Forth Worth Texas, by the name of Opal Lee, has decided to do a Juneteenth Awareness Walk Detroit where the Democratic Presidential hopefuls will be having their debate to bring attention to her personal campaign to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

The 92-year-old also is no stranger to using her legs and stamina to make her point, she walked a couple years ago in an attempt to get the attention of President Obama and the Congress, back in 2016, and if all goes well Opal will launch a Change.org petition to make Juneteenth a National Day of Observance this coming fall. She will kick off her 2020 campaign to get the Juneteenth legislation passed and put in some more walking miles to achieve her goal.

I believe that making space on the national calendar for this particular holiday (Juneteenth) would go along way toward improving race relations in this country. Just as the first step to solving the race problem is admitting that there is a race problem. The first step of healing the physiological and economic wounds of slavery might just be becoming comfortable with the fact that there was once slavery in this country to begin a national dialogue.

Taught on a national basis it might not be all that bad for people to learn that not all white people had slaves and that not all black people were slaves. Or that for the slave on-the-run not all white people were bad, and not all black people were good. If the Juneteenth Day Celebration becomes a reminder of these things I believe that would be some helpful history. We should be able to learn the history behind people, places, and things that made up America's second Independence Day.

So it goes without saying that I support Opal Lee's quest to bring more attention to making Juneteenth a national holiday. And the fact now that we're up to 47 states officially celebration Juneteenth, with about 5 states to go, it is quite possible that every state in the union will be celebrating Juneteenth as a state holiday and when that happens, even if the lawmakers in Washington haven't made up their collective minds, Juneteenth will be a national holiday.

If you have questions like why is it called Juneteenth, are looking for Juneteenth quotes, Juneteenth food ideas, a Juneteeth flag, or just some friendly Juneteenth facts be sure to see some of the other posts on this blog?

2019 Juneteenth Day Celebration

Back in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln wrote his Emancipation Proclamation that contained the words "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states, and parts of states, are, and henceforth shall be free" he intended the news within his proclamation to be heard by all of the slaves in the southern U.S. Southern slave owners, slave merchants, and newspapers did not share that good news with the slaves.

Word still managed to reach some of the slaves in the south, but the unbelievable message was treated more as hearsay and rumor, until June 19, 1865, when General Gordon Granger assumed jurisdiction over the state of Texas and in his reading of General Order #3 confirmed to the large slave population gathered there in Galveston Texas that the hearsay and rumor of freedom whispered amongst the southern slaves about Abraham Lincoln's words of freedom were true bringing to an end two-and-a-half-years cruel doubt and secret rumor.

The joy and jubilation experienced that day by our African and African American slave ancestors would mark the first celebration of Juneteenth. Juneteenth Day Celebration is now celebrated thought out the U.S. and in many places on the date of June 19th.  One of those places, out here in California, will be the former black township of Allensworth California founded in 1908. The all-black town started by Colonel Allen Allensworth no longer exists as it once did in the early 1900s. The township has been turned into a State Park operated nowadays The Friends of Allensworth Association and the California Parks and Recreation Department.

Allensworth is a neat slice of African American history in my opinion that mixes well with the Juneteenth Day Celebration. Not only because of the town's place in African American History but because of its State Park status and ability to host a lot of people. I think that makes the historic town of Allensworth a great way to answer the question of how to celebrate Juneteenth. The town and the towns creator, Colonel Allen Allensworth are both significant representations of African American history. Juneteenth to me is about family and celebrating the freedoms our African, and African American ancestors did not live long enough to enjoy. The Juneteenth Day Celebration is also a great teachable moment in the lives of our children and a chance for you to share your Juneteenth knowledge with anyone you run into that is looking for more information about the Juneteenth celebration, or the Juneteenth flag.

I have often tried to imagine what it would be like to invite one of my slave ancestors from the distant past here to the present day and time where we all live today to see what they might say and think the progress African American people have made since the end of slavery?  Would they be surprised to see that the KKK is still alive and well, and still working in government? Would they be able to comprehend that our last president was a black man with a white mother? Would their minds be totally blown by my flat-screen-television; or the fact that people on the TV-screen were talking about paying millions of dollars for both black and white sports figures?

These are not the kind of thoughts that keep me up at night but they do sometimes come in handy when I'm working on a screenplay. I realize that it would be a disaster for me to try and explain all of the above to a slave ancestor, our lifetimes would just be too far apart. When I celebrate Juneteenth I am always mindful of the sacrifices the Africans who came to America against their will centuries before I was born, and for the ones that I know did not complete the middle passage. My hope is that their spirit has long since been freed to return to the motherland. I also celebrate for all of the African Americans, like me, who were born here, in America, and who have never known the motherland of my ancestors first hand.

Those ancestors were the reason I titled my documentary A Time to be Remembered, a Juneteenth Story in the hope that neither the enslaved nor the history that surrounded them will ever be forgotten. Because a history that is forgotten is doom to be repeated, I remember reading someplace, and because slave families were often sold apart from each other during the days of slavery making the celebration of "family" a part of the Juneteenth Celebration just makes sense to me.

Also, while Juneteenth is thought of as a celebrated for black people and the end of slavery it should also be remembered that there were plenty of non-black people who had good reason to celebrate the end of slavery in the U.S. too. The majority of people who ran and maintained the clandestine system of secret trails, safe-houses, and hideouts that made up the underground railroad were white, Indian and other non-black nationalities. I believe that their contributions in the battle to end slavery in America should not be forgotten in, the end of slavery celebration we call Juneteenth.

New Juneteenth Handbook Facebook Group

I have created a new Juneteenth Handbook Facebook Group page and you are invited to join with me and others to discuss and share information about the Juneteenth Day Celebration and its history. The New Facebook Group is looking for members willing to share their Juneteenth knowledge and Juneteenth stories to build a knowledge base about Juneteenth and the way different people celebrate the oldest African American celebration in the U.S.

Back when I worked at Stanford University at SLAC (the Stanford Linear Acceleration Center) I was part of an organization that set up the Juneteenth Day Celebration each year. Of my over 35 plus years at SLAC, there was a time when I first became aware of the Juneteenth Day Celebration and that resulted in my participating in the celebration the last 10 years of my employment SLAC. There were bands, T-Shirts, good food, friendly people and almost always someone there who was learning about the Juneteenth Day Celebration for the first time the way I did 10 years earlier.

The job I had at the television station where I first heard all the details behind Juneteenth, didn't celebrate Juneteenth. The thing that stuck with me when I did first become aware of what the word Juneteenth meant was that Juneteenth is "the Oldest African American Celebration in the United States." I remember thinking how could I not know about the oldest "African American" celebration around? History was one of my favorite subjects when I was in school so I found it highly unlikely that I had read over that important fact and not filed it away in my memory bank.

In the end, and after a little research, on my part, it turned out to be a relief realizing that I had not read past an important black history fact. The oldest African American Celebration in this country (the U.S.) truly had never appeared in any of the history textbooks I had studied in. Like I tell most of my friends my knowledge is history especially as it relates to slavery came from the years BC (before cable). The Internet is a great source of information nowadays but since not all the information I have come across that relates to Juneteenth and slavery has been reliable it helps to have more than one source of information about a Juneteenth/slavery question.

If you have anything you would like to share about the Juneteenth Day celebration, like how that day is celebrated where you are, or how you first became aware of the Juneteenth Day celebration please feel free to share that information to this new Facebook Group. 

The Juneteenth Experience

The Juneteenth Day Celebration experience is a great opportunity to learn more about the history of the oldest American African celebration in the United States of America. It has been my experience that there are always knowledgeable people available at the Juneteenth Day Celebration who are willing to share the history behind what amounted to a second American Independence Day for African Americans. Emancipation allowed this nation to grow even closer to the true meaning in the constitution (that all men are created equal).

Since I began paying attention to Juneteenth Day Celebrations I realize that Juneteenth, which is sometimes also referred to as emancipation day, is celebrated as early as January in some states. The latest Juneteenth celebration that has come to my attention happens in the month of August, in Ontario Canada. The last slaves in the U.S. to learn of their freedom received the glorious news in the month of June (June 19 to be exact) and since that happened in (the slaves vernacular) the "teenths" of the month, the time between the 13th and the 19th of June, 1865 the name Juneteenth was born.

Juneteenth honors our African ancestors who would never know the freedoms that some of them prayed, fought, and died for; the thousands of black souls whose perseverance and courage got them to the promised land in this lifetime, and the thousands of black, and white souls who help those in search of freedom and brave enough to purchase that freedom with their lives, if need be.  Juneteenth is a shout-out to the abolitionist builders and maintenance workers on the Underground Railroad for helping so many African American people on their quests for freedom. Some people insist on looking at the Juneteenth Day Celebration as a sad reminder of the past I see it more as a reminder of how far American African people have come as part of the fabric of America.

The Juneteenth Day Celebration came into existence over 160 years ago and over that time the progress of African Americans and the rest of this nation, when it comes to understanding and celebrating the Juneteenth Day Celebration, has been slow but steady. I had not even heard the word  Juneteenth until about 1993-1994 even though both of my parents come from the southern U.S. To me the Juneteenth Day Celebration is not all about slavery, it's about the freedom that took a long time to come and that is in many ways still fully unfolding itself, what I mean by that is, and I-kid-you-not, I was surprised to learn the year I finished my documentary, A Time to be Remembered, about the Juneteenth celebration; that same year (1995) the State of Mississippi had finally gotten around to ratifying the 13 Amendment (the abolishment of slavery everywhere in the United States).